Eleanor Finch
The U.S. Constitution was written and signed in 1787, years after the Revolutionary War, by a group of delegates including James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington, who feared their young country was on the brink of collapse. America's first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, had created a weak central government, leaving most of the power with the state governments, and lacked enforcement powers. The delegates formed a new constitution with a stronger national government, bypassing the state legislatures and calling for special ratifying conventions in each state. The new constitution was ratified in 1788, and it remains the supreme law of the land today.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Year of creation | 1787 |
| Date of signing | September 17, 1787 |
| Date of ratification | June 21, 1788 |
| Location of signing | Independence Hall, Philadelphia |
| Number of amendments | 27 |
| Number of delegates who signed | 39 |
| Number of states needed for ratification | 9 |
| Number of states that ratified | 11 |
| Number of states reporting pro-Constitution majority | 6 |
| Number of essays in the Federalist Papers | 85 |
| Number of people per representative in the House | 30,000 |
| Fraction of a person enslaved Africans counted as | 3/5 |
| Year slavery was to be abolished | 1808 |
| Number of articles condensed into the final form | 23 to 7 |
| Number of days taken to condense the articles | 4 |
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What You'll Learn
The Articles of Confederation
The process of ratification was challenging, with several states refusing to ratify the Articles initially. Virginia was the first state to ratify on December 16, 1777, and by February 1779, 12 states had ratified the Articles. Maryland was the lone holdout, refusing to go along until the landed states, especially Virginia, ceded their claims to lands west of the Ohio River to the Union. Maryland finally ratified the Articles on February 2, 1781, and Congress officially proclaimed the Articles of Confederation to be the law of the land.
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A new form of government
The United States Constitution was the result of months of passionate and thoughtful deliberation among the delegates. The founding fathers, including James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington, believed that their young country was on the brink of collapse due to the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, which was America's first constitution. The Articles created a weak central government, leaving most of the power with the state governments, and it lacked enforcement powers, the ability to regulate commerce, or print money. Divisions among the states and local rebellions threatened to tear the country apart.
In 1786, John Jay, a delegate from New York, wrote to George Washington expressing the need for a general convention to revise the Articles of Confederation. In May of that year, Charles Pinckney of South Carolina proposed that Congress revise the Articles, and a committee was appointed to draft amendments. However, these amendments were never acted upon.
In 1787, Congress authorized delegates to gather in Philadelphia and recommend changes to the Articles of Confederation. It became clear from the start of the convention that the delegates were forming an entirely new form of government. The delegates debated and compromised on various issues, including representation in the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the contentious issue of slavery. After three months of debate, the delegates appointed a Committee of Detail to put its decisions in writing. This committee included Oliver Ellsworth, Nathaniel Gorham, Edmund Randolph, John Rutledge, and James Wilson.
Near the end of the convention, a Committee of Style and Arrangement, including Alexander Hamilton, William Johnson, Rufus King, and Gouverneur Morris, condensed the articles into a final form. On September 17, 1787, 38 delegates signed the Constitution, and it was left to the states to accept or reject this new plan of government. The Constitution needed to be ratified by nine of the thirteen states to go into effect. The ratification process was bitter and divisive, with Federalists and Anti-Federalists clashing over the merits of the Constitution. The Anti-Federalists fought against the Constitution because it created a powerful central government and lacked a bill of rights. Eventually, eleven states ratified the Constitution, instituting a new form of government for the United States.
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Ratification
The ratification process for the U.S. Constitution was a long and arduous journey. The founding fathers set the terms for ratifying the Constitution, bypassing the state legislatures and calling for special ratifying conventions in each state. Ratification by 9 of the 13 states was required to enact the new government. The Federalists, who believed in a strong central government, faced fierce opposition from the Anti-Federalists, who fought against the Constitution as it created a powerful central government and lacked a bill of rights. The ratification campaign was a close contest, and the tide turned in Massachusetts, where a “vote now, amend later” compromise helped secure victory.
The first state to ratify the Constitution was Delaware on December 7, 1787, followed by Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut. The ratification process was not without rancor and bitterness, with anti-Federalist rioters in Carlisle breaking up a Federalist celebration and hanging effigies of Federalists. Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and Madison mounted a counterattack, publishing a series of 85 essays known as the Federalist Papers, which explained and defended the proposed new government.
The Constitution was then ratified by Massachusetts, Maryland, and South Carolina. On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution, making it the official framework of the government of the United States. The remaining states eventually ratified the Constitution by May 29, 1790, when Rhode Island approved the document. The Bill of Rights, consisting of ten amendments, was ratified on December 15, 1791.
The ratification of the U.S. Constitution was a significant milestone in the country's history, transforming the government and providing a framework to guide the nation and protect the rights of Americans. The process, however, was not without challenges and controversies, highlighting the deep divisions between Federalists and Anti-Federalists and the need for compromise to secure the nation's future.
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The Committee of Detail
The committee referenced state constitutions, the Articles of Confederation, plans submitted to the convention, and other available material when preparing its draft of the Constitution. The Declaration of Independence also acted as an important guide for its ideals of self-government and fundamental human rights. The writings of European political philosophers such as Montesquieu and John Locke were also influential. The committee sought to create a balanced government of checks and balances to serve the long-term interests of the people of an independent nation.
The committee's report, delivered by Rutledge on August 6, 1787, was the first workable constitutional plan. It included numerous provisions that the convention had never discussed but were not likely to be controversial. The report was in the handwriting of either Wilson or Randolph, with the former's draft including the first attempt at what would become the preamble in the final document. Wilson modified the list of enumerated powers, adding the necessary and proper clause and strengthening the supremacy clause. These changes set the final balance between the national and state governments in the final document.
After the committee's report was issued, the convention appointed a committee of style to prepare a final version. Gouverneur Morris, later known as the "penman of the Constitution," did most of the work. On September 17, 1787, after several days of further revision, the Constitutional Convention voted in favour of the Constitution.
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The Committee of Style
The committee was formed on 8 September 1787 and consisted of five members: William Samuel Johnson, Alexander Hamilton, Gouverneur Morris, James Madison, and Rufus King. Gouverneur Morris, later known as the "penman of the Constitution", did most of the work. The committee condensed 23 articles into seven in less than four days.
The Committee of Detail's draft was based on the original Virginia Plan, the decisions of the convention on modifications to that plan, and other sources. The committee did not record its minutes, so its story has been pieced together from a few documents, including an outline by Randolph with edits by Rutledge, notes and a second draft by Wilson with edits by Rutledge, and the final report presented to the convention. The draft included two rules for drafting: that the constitution should only include essential principles, avoiding minor provisions that would change over time, and that it should be stated in simple and precise language.
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Frequently asked questions
The US Constitution was created through months of passionate and thoughtful deliberation among the delegates. The delegates formed a Committee of Detail to draw up a draft constitution, which was then revised by a Committee of Style and Arrangement. The final version was voted on by the Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787.
The US Constitution was created to address the flaws in the Articles of Confederation, which was the first constitution of the United States. The Articles created a weak central government, leaving most of the power with the state governments. There were also issues such as divisions among the states, local rebellions, and economic problems that threatened to tear the country apart.
The US Constitution established a stronger national government with more powers, such as the power to tax and regulate commerce between the states. It also set up a system of checks and balances to ensure that no one branch of government had too much power. The Constitution also included a formal amendment process, allowing future generations to revise and improve the nation's charter.
